System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Core tables for water United Nations Statistics Division

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Outline of presentation  Reasons and mandate  Core Accounts and core tables  Core table 1 for water  Core table 2 for water  Indicators/aggregates  Compilation  Extension  Plan going forward

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Reasons and mandate  Core tables provide concise, highly relevant information  Information is key to deriving indicators and aids in developing evidence based public policies  UNSC at its 44 th session urged UNCEEA to develop a core set of tables and accounts  Core tables will be developed for: Water accounting Energy accounting MFA and waste accounting Air emission accounting Land accounting Forest accounting Environmental Protection Expenditures Accounting Environmental Goods and Services Sector Environmental taxes and subsidies

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Core tables and accounts  Core accounts are the key accounts from SEEA CF that are relevant for the topic of the technical note. For example, the core accounts for the technical note on water accounting are the physical supply and use tables for water and the water asset accounts.  The core tables provide an aggregated set of data which provides enough information to derive relevant indicators. The data in the core tables directly comes from the core accounts, but is combined with other relevant data sources such as the national accounts and labour statistics.

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Core tables have three functions: 1.For compilers they provide an overview of the end result of their compilation efforts and help them in deciding what core accounts to compile first. 2.For users of the accounts (i.e. researchers, policymakers, etc.) they present an overview of the key data and indicators that can be derived from the accounts 3.For international agencies they can be used as a starting point in the development of common reporting tables and development of global databases

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Core accounts for water Core table 1 is composed of 3 core accounts: First block shown below—contains information on physical supply and use of water Information is part of the physical supply and use table for water which contains more details Codes correspond to data items from IRWS

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Core accounts for water Second block shown below—contains information on supply and use for water products in monetary terms Information is part of the monetary supply and use table for water which contains more details National accounts data can be used to populate table to the extent possible

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Core accounts Third block contains monetary information on water related assets Information is relevant for a more complete understanding of the investment needs in the water sector

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Core table 1-putting it all together

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Core table 1  Countries can start by compiling information that is most policy relevant and focus on the any of building blocks to core table 1 if information on other building blocks is not readily available  Core tables are flexible in that if more detailed information is required, rows/columns can be further disaggregated as necessary.

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Core table 2  Physical flows of water from/to environment  Part of the physical asset account for water  Focus on changes in stocks

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Indicators  Core tables contain the necessary information for deriving numerous indicators on water Total renewable water resources Total abstractions by industry Intensity of use of water resources Water productivity/intensity indicators Investments in water infrastructure

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Compilation  Section contains relevant information on how to go about compiling the core accounts and core tables. Basic steps Main data sources Challenges

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Extensions  Links to basic data  Links to other accounts Emissions to water Energy accounts (use of water by hydro plants)

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Going forward  June 2014 – UNCEEA to review the proposed structure of the technical notes along with draft notes for water and energy  July-October Editor to draft technical notes with input from London group topic leaders  October-November Broad consultation on the technical notes including LG and NSOs